Cemeteries - Trust Annual Report 1981
The Cemeteries at West Hill and Magdalen Hill have recently been the subject of controversy, as readers of the local press will know. Magdalen Hill cemetery is still in use but maintenance has become very expensive due to the difficulty of cutting the grass around the memorials. West Hill cemetery was laid out in the 19th century and was originally privately owned. It is now owned by the City Council, whose policy is to gradually remove the memorials and to turn the cemetery into a public open space. This policy has the support of some, who feel that this would make a more economic and socially beneficial use of the land now filled with graves. Others agree that the cemetery shows an important aspect of 19th century design, integrating sculpture and landscape, and that many of the memorials are of value in themselves as Victorian sculpture and as memorials to the citizens whom they commemorate.
A solution is needed for this problem, which affects many other disused cemeteries. Voluntary maintenance by a group of friends or by an institution in the area might be the answer: can anyone point us in the right direction?